Vilhelm Andreas Wexelsen (5 June 1849 – 9 July 1909) was a Norwegian

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He served five terms in the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

, was Minister of Education and Church Affairs from 1891 to 1892 and from 1898 to 1903 and bishop of

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

from 1905 to 1909. Wexelsen graduated as

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1872. He was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Kolvereid Kolvereid is a town in the municipality of Nærøysund in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town of Kolvereid is located at the west end of the Kolvereidvågen bay, off of the inner part of the Foldafjord. The Norwegian County Road 770 runs through ...

in 1877 and was then vicar in

Overhalla Overhalla is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ranemsletta (also called ''Overhalla''). Other villages include Melen, Skage, Skogmo, S ...

from 1884 to 1891. While stationed here he became involved in local politics, being mayor of Overhalla municipality from 1878 to 1884 and 1889 to 1891. Later, he was the regional school director from 1896 to 1898. Wexelsen was elected to the

in 1883, representing the constituency of

Nordre Trondhjems Amt ''Nordre'' (Northern), formerly known as ''Haramsnytt'' (The Haram News), is a local Norwegian newspaper covering events in the northern part of the municipality of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county. History The newspaper was established as ''Ha ...

. He had previously been a deputy representative during the term 1880–1882. He was then re-elected in 1883, 1886, and 1889. On 6 March 1891, when the first cabinet Steen assumed office, Wexelsen was appointed Minister of Education and Church Affairs. He held this position until 1 July 1892, when he was moved to the Council of State Division in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He lost this job on 1 May 1893, when the first cabinet Steen fell. Instead he was re-elected in 1895 for a fourth term in Parliament. He was re-elected for a fifth term in 1898, this time representing the constituency ''Trondhjem og Levanger'', but on 17 February 1898 he returned as Minister of Education and Church Affairs as a part of the new second cabinet Steen. He retained this job when the second cabinet Steen was replaced by the first cabinet Blehr on 21 April 1902. However, when that cabinet fell on 21 October 1903, he left national politics. In 1905, Wexelsen was appointed

of the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. In 1906, he became historic when he carried out the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

of the new

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...

and Queen Maud, who had been named King and Queen following the

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden The dissolution of the union ( nb, unionsoppløsningen; nn, unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; sv, unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolu ...

and the Norwegian monarchy plebiscite in 1905. Wexelsen remained bishop until 1909, the year he died. Wexelsen was the father of politician Einar Wexelsen. He was also father of entertainer Vidar Wexelsen, best known by his pen and stage name

Per Kvist Per Kvist was the artist name of Vidar Wexelsen (4 April 1890 – 23 May 1947), a Norwegian revue writer, entertainer, stage actor, film actor and children's writer. Personal life Wexelsen was born in Overhalla as a son of vicar, politician a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wexelsen, Vilhelm Andreas 1849 births 1909 deaths Government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Nord-Trøndelag People from Trondheim Bishops of Nidaros 20th-century Lutheran bishops University of Oslo alumni Ministers of Education of Norway